~ Books by Jay Magidson

Category Archives: criticism

Do you give more credit to strangers or critics than to yourself? How would anything ever get created if we let these self-chosen gatekeepers actually run everything? The truth is, nothing would be created. Critics are there as afterthoughts, telling us about movies, books or art they loved or hated. But they come only AFTER all the creative blood has been spilt.

Is our work being judged or thickness of our skin

When did we all become critics anyway? It is encouraged—no—required that we act as critics daily. Don’t believe me, post a video of a famous performer on Facebook. You’ll get dozens of comments ranging from how great the performer is, to how horrible they were to their ex. If you want to really torture yourself, put a political statement on social media. You’ll get loved and hated, complimented and slandered.

Why have we become so critical?

I don’t know why, but we have and it is not healthy for new ideas. It crushes the spirit of budding creativity. It you are working out a complicated or fragile idea and you put it online for comments, you might as well erase the thought from your mind or the file from your computer first. It will be crushed under the weight of petty commentary, and the reasons for their ire will be banal: “I liked the story, but the lead character has the same name as my ex-wife, so how could I like a story with my ex in it?” W.T.F.

There is such a thing as good and bad

Only time decides what is good or bad, what should be cherished and what should be discarded. But that is not the point, ideas need to be born, nurtured and matured before they are judged. If you believe in your story, flesh it out, work on it, polish it, rewrite it again and again, until it is the best you can make it. Then release it to the world. It is not yours anymore and if it flies, it flies and if it sinks, it sinks, but at least it exists. You gave birth to an idea and saw it through. This is a big deal and should be honored, not scoffed at, not ever. Creativity is such an important human endeavor, god-like in a way. We take an idea and bring it into reality, from nothing to something. Good or bad, you brought it to life. Dr. Frankenstein couldn’t do better.

If you hesitate to bring your ideas to life because you are afraid of criticism or ridicule, then remember to nurture them like babies, protecting them until they are old enough to go into the world on their own. Then let them go. Like our grown children, they will have to make it on their own someday. If your work gets judged and criticized, positive or negatively, put that aside. Who are these people, and why are they smarter than you? They probably aren’t actually. And if that’s true, then why do you care what they say.